(July 23, 2002) The Dialogue of Democracies: Today and Next January / “台美國會首度最大規模對話，並允諾明年一月台北見！”

The Dialogue of Democracies: Today and Next January

The Congressional Taiwan Caucus (CTC) and a thirty-five Member strong Taiwan Legislative Yuan (LY) delegation meeting of July 23rd marks a distinctive “dialogue of democracies” meant to further understanding between the oldest democracy and one of the newest members of the democracy club.

The LY delegation, the largest ever to visit the United States, came to Washington to thank the CTC members for their strong support, to discuss matters of mutual interest, and to publicly announce a January 2003 International Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Asian Pacific Security, to be held in Taipei.

The CTC expressed its thanks for the Taiwanese delegation’s invitation to the conference and will actively participate in this event.

The CTC, established on April 9th, now has 112 members. It is one of the largest and fastest growing caucuses in the United States Congress. Today’s luncheon is the first such big gathering for the caucus members, among those participating are Rep. Ben Gilman (R-NY), the ex-chairman of the House International Relations Committee, and the Congressional Black Caucus chairwoman, Rep. Eddie Burnice Johnson (D-TX).

“At this important juncture in history, today’s meeting has helped strengthen the bonds between the US and Taiwan,” stated Dr. Wu Ming-chi, FAPA President. “Strong bonds between democracies are clearly the backbone of a serious anti-terrorism campaign. The Taipei conference will extend this mutually supportive network throughout the Pacific region. The interests of the U.S., Taiwan and all the democracies in the Pacific are well served by today’s meeting and will be served by the January conference.

“The conference next January aims to create dialogue among the countries involved,” Wu continued, “enhance understanding and communications, and thus diminish conflicts in the region. Moreover, FAPA believes that next January’s conference will give Taiwan an excellent opportunity to fulfill its proactive diplomatic strategy in the face of the PRC’s diplomatic blockade and will ultimately show the world Taiwan’s willingness and sincerity in maintaining the stability and security of the Asia-Pacific region.”